The Culprit Refused to Talk

"Guchuan, it was a good thing you suggested we go to the Big Rice Flower Shop first. Otherwise, the people from that organization would have gotten away," Conan said with a smile from inside the car.

"Yeah, we got lucky."

After parking the car at Professor Agasa's house, Guchuan carried the sack inside under cover of night.

In the storage room, Guchuan tied the bald shop owner to a chair and dumped a basin of cold water over him, waking him up.

"Ah!"

"Pfft!"

The bald shop owner's eyes widened as he lowered his head and stared at the floor. The room was packed with stored junk, and the harsh light made the cramped space feel especially oppressive.

"Who are you people? Why did you kidnap me?" the bald shop owner asked.

"Of course because you're part of that organization." Conan adjusted his glasses and stepped forward with a baton in hand.

"And we're detectives."

"Detectives?" the bald shop owner muttered.

Could they be detectives hired by the Japanese Police to investigate the organization? But why would they hire two brats? And why did I, of all people, get caught while carrying out a mission?

"We're the ones asking the questions now." Guchuan pulled over a chair and sat down.

"Name."

The bald shop owner stubbornly kept his mouth shut.

Bang!

Guchuan swung a baseball bat into the bald shop owner's head, making him spit blood all over the floor.

"Guchuan, your methods are too extreme," Conan said as he looked at him.

They were decent people. They couldn't torture confessions out of people like criminals did.

"Yeah, you can't do this," the bald shop owner agreed after his brief stupor passed.

Weren't you detectives hired by the police? Why are you so vicious?

"Conan." Guchuan patted Conan on the shoulder, then said earnestly, "In the pursuit of truth, detectives are allowed to use some excessive measures."

That's way too excessive.

While the two were distracted, Guchuan smashed the bald shop owner over the head again.

"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!" the bald shop owner cried, tears and snot streaming down his face.

"See? He opened up nicely after all." Guchuan looked at Conan smugly.

The corner of Conan's mouth twitched.

"My name is Kameida. I'm an outer member of the organization. This time, I was carrying out a transaction at the Big Rice Flower Shop," Kameida said obediently.

"Who were you trading with? What were you trading?" Conan asked.

"I don't know who I was trading with. That person had their face covered the whole time. I don't know what we were trading either. I only knew there was supposed to be a transaction," Kameida answered honestly.

"Conan, you hit him this time." Guchuan generously left Conan the opportunity to torture the culprit.

"Uh..." Conan wanted to refuse.

"What I said is all true!" Kameida said anxiously.

You thugs—once I get to prison, I'll definitely report you for violent interrogation!

"Then who is your superior?" Conan asked.

"My superior's codename is Vodka, and my superior's superior is codenamed Gin." Kameida spilled everything he knew in one breath.

"Vodka? Gin? Back at Mantendo, that Man in Black who was blown up seemed to mention Vodka," Conan said.

"Yeah, it really is that organization." Guchuan nodded.

He gave Kameida a sinister glance. People who betrayed their organization so easily were truly detestable. Once he took over The Winery, he would definitely purge every last one of them.

"Then where did you take Professor Agasa?" Conan asked, grabbing Kameida by the collar.

"Who's Professor Agasa?" Kameida looked utterly confused.

"He's a little old man with white hair. Your organization kidnapped him."

"I don't know anything about that."

Guchuan slapped Kameida across the face.

"You're being dishonest again."

"I really don't know!" Kameida looked aggrieved.

His mission had only been to conduct a transaction. Kidnapping wasn't part of the job.

"If your people didn't kidnap Professor Agasa, then what, Conan's parents did?" Guchuan said, pointing at Kameida's nose.

"There are a lot of people in our organization. Maybe someone else kidnapped him. I really don't know," Kameida said honestly.

Guchuan was about to start torturing him again, but Conan grabbed him and held him back with all his strength.

"Guchuan, what he said might actually be true."

"How could it be true?" Guchuan shook her head.

"At the professor's house, the clues clearly showed that the person who kidnapped him was going to the 'Big Rice Flower Shop.' How could the person handling the deal there not know? He was obviously lying."

"Could you not use such violent methods?" Conan tugged at Guchuan's leg.

Conan noticed that Guchuan remained very calm whenever she resorted to violence. He knew she was not a violent person by nature. But violence could not solve the problem.

"Conan, do you know why you'll never become an even greater detective?" Guchuan asked.

"Why?" Conan asked, puzzled.

"Because you follow the rules too much." Guchuan looked at Conan with regret.

"..."

"I actually think following the rules is a good thing," Kameida said weakly.

Guchuan shot him a glare, and Kameida immediately shut up.

"Beep beep beep~"

"I'll take this call first. You interrogate him yourself," Guchuan said, taking out her phone.

"Who is it?" Conan asked.

"Little Ai."

"Who's Little Ai?"

"My sister." Guchuan left the room after saying that.

Guchuan's sister? Wasn't her sister called Loli Guchuan?

When she reached the living room, Guchuan answered the call.

Guchuan: "Hello."

Gin: "What kind of madness are you up to this time? The person you took away is an outer member of the organization. Let him go now."

Guchuan: "The ignorant are not guilty."

When Guchuan kidnapped Kameida, she really had not known he was a member of the organization. She had only thought there was something suspicious about him. It could only be said that it was far too much of a coincidence.

"Release him," Gin said coldly.

"Give me the boss's contact information, and I'll let him go," Guchuan laid out her condition.

"Heh, are you trying to negotiate with me?" Gin said.

"Obviously."

Gin fell silent for a while. "If you want the boss's contact information, you need the boss's approval. Also, why do you want to contact the boss?"

"You, Gin, have been suppressing me and keeping me from getting a code name. Of course I'm going to complain to the boss," Guchuan said frankly.

"Heh."

"Enough with the 'heh.' Go ask the boss already." Guchuan hung up.

After sitting on the sofa for a while, Guchuan received an email from Gin.

Gin: The boss agreed to contact you directly. Release him as soon as possible.

Guchuan: OK.

Guchuan slipped her phone into her pocket and entered the storage room.

"How did it go? Did he say anything?"

"No. He refused to talk no matter what."

"Has Shinichi arrived yet?"

"No. He refused to come no matter what." Yusaku Kudo stared blankly at the clock on the wall.